Golf putter

ABSTRACT

A golf putter includes a club head with an elongated main body, and a resilient sheath enclosing the main body. The sheath has a front covering portion which covers a front side wall of the main body and which has an upright ball contacting surface adapted to be in contact with a golf ball. The ball contacting surface is formed with at least one groove that extends along a longitudinal direction of the main body. A club shaft has a lower end extending through the sheath, and is mounted on the main body of the club head.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No.091211135, filed on Jul. 22, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a golf putter, more particularlyto a golf putter having a club head covered with a resilient sheathwhich is formed with a groove on the side that is used to strike a golfball.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] A golf putter is a golf club that is used during a game of golffor striking a golf ball so that it rolls into a hole. FIGS. 1 and 2show a conventional putter 1 which includes an elongated club head 11and a club shaft 12 fixed to the club head 11. The club head 11 includesa longitudinally extending main portion 111 made of metal. The mainportion 111 has an upright ball contacting face 114 which is inlaid withan oval-shaped resilient block 115 that is typically made of resin, suchas epoxy resin.

[0006] Since the resilient block 115 does not encompass the entire ballcontacting face 114, a rim part of the main portion 111 on the ballcontacting face 114 that borders the resilient block 115 mightundesirably hit the golf ball 10 when the putter 1 is in use, thusresulting in uncontrolled rolling movement of the ball 10 and a shorterdistance of rolling movement of the ball 10. Moreover, the club head 11has a relatively wide bottom wall with a flat extension 112 to help itstand uprightly and stably on a ground surface. The flat extension 112lowers the weight center of the club head 11 such that the club head 11usually hits a lower part of the golf ball 10 to cause counter-rotationof the ball 10. Therefore, the conventional putteri is not satisfactoryin terms of control of both the route and the distance of rollingmovement of the golf ball 10.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to providea golf putter which allows a golfer to have a stable control in both theroute and the distance of rolling movement of a golf ball.

[0008] Accordingly, the golf putter of the present invention includes aclub head and a club shaft. The club head includes an elongated mainbody which has an upright front side wall extending along a longitudinaldirection of the mainbody. The club head further includes a sheath whichis made of a resilient material and which encloses the main body. Thesheath has a front covering portion which covers the front side wall andwhich has an upright ball contacting surface adapted to be in contactwith a golf ball. The ball contacting surface is formed with at leastone groove that extends in the longitudinal direction of the main body.The club shaft has a lower end extending through the sheath and mountedon the main body of the club head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Other features and advantages of the present inventionwill becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional golfputter;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a partly-sectioned side view of the conventional golfputter to illustrate how it can be used to strike a golf ball;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a partly-sectioned side view of a preferred embodimentof the golf putter of the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a partly-cutaway exploded perspective view of thepreferred embodiment; and

[0014]FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the preferredembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0015] Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the preferred embodiment of thegolf putter 2 according to the present invention is shown to includeclub head 8 and a club shaft 7 connected to the club head 8.

[0016] The club head 8 includes an elongated main body 3, a sheath 4, abottom cap 6, and a weight member 5. The main body 3 is formedintegrally from a metal composite which is based on lead (Pb) and whichincorporates trace amount of metal selected from the group consisting oftin (Sn), bismuth (Bi), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), silver (Ag), zinc(Zn), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and iron (Fe). The main body 3 includesa longitudinal main portion 32 extending along the length thereof andhaving an upright and generally straight front side wall 321, and a pairof weight mounting portions 31 which project rearwardly from the mainportion 32 and which are spaced-apart from each other in thelongitudinal direction of the main body 3. The front side wall 321 isslightly inclined in a downward and forward direction. Each of theweight mounting portions 31 is generally wedge-shaped and has aninclined surface 311 which extends rearwardly and downwardly from a topwall 322 of the main portion 32. Each of the weight mounting portions 31is formedwitha cavity 313 which has abottom opening 315 formed on abottom surface 312 of the main body 3. The top wall 322 is formed with amounting bore 323 for mounting an insert end 711 of the club shaft 7.

[0017] The sheath 4 is formed from a resilient plastic material, such asan ABS resin or polyethylene plastic available from DUPONT, under thetrade name of SURLYN. The sheath 4 substantially encloses the main body3, and has an open bottom side to expose the bottom surface 312 of themain body 3 so as to permit access to the cavities 313 via the bottomopenings 315. The sheath 4 includes an upright and generally straightfront covering portion 41 which covers the front side wall 321 of themain body 3 and which has an outer ball contacting surface 410 adaptedto be in contact with the golf ball 20 when the putter 2 is in use. Theball contacting surface 410 is formed with a plurality of parallellongitudinal grooves 411 which extend along the longitudinal directionof the main body 3 and a plurality of rows of inclinedgrooves 412extending from the longitudinal grooves 411. The sheath 4 further has atop covering portion 42 which covers the top wall 322 of the mainportion 32 and the inclined surfaces 311 of the weight mounting portions31. The top covering portion 42 is formed with a rectangular hole 421registered with the mounting bore 323 to permit extension of the insertend 711 of the club shaft 7 therethrough. The sheath 4 has a bottom rim44 formed on its bottom side along a periphery thereof. A metal skinlayer 80 is formed over an outer wall surface of the sheath 4 byelectroplating so as to provide the club head 8 with an enhancedaesthetic effect.

[0018] The weight member 5 is in the form of a rectangular metal block,and is received removably in the cavity 313 of a selected one of theweight mounting portions 31.

[0019] The bottom cap 6, in the form of an elongated metal plate, isdisposed on the bottom side of the sheath 4 so as to be surrounded bythe bottom rim 44, and is fastened detachably to the bottom surface 312of the main body 3 using a pair screws 60 for covering the bottomopenings 315 of the cavities 313.

[0020] The club shaft 7 includes a lower section 71 formed with theinsert end 711 which is inserted into the mounting hole 323 through therectangular hole 421 in the sheath 4 and which is mounted on the mainbody 3 of the club head 8. The club shaft 7 further has an upper section72 inserted into a tubular end 712 of the lower section 71 opposite tothe insert end 711.

[0021] During manufacture, the main body 3 and the weight member 5 areformed separately from metal material. The main body 3 is then disposedin a mold. The sheath 4 is formed integrally from the aforementionedpolymeric material, such as ABS resin or PE, to enclose the main body 3in the manner described above. Then, the metal skin layer 8 is formedover the outer wall surface of the sheath 4 via a conventionalelectroplating process. After placing the weight member 5 in a selectedone of the cavities 313, the bottom cap 6 is fastened to the bottomsurface 312 of the main body 3 with the use of the screws 60. The bottomcap 6, after being fastened to the main body 3, is flush with the bottomrim 44 of the sheath 4. Finally, the club shaft 7 is assembled to theclub head 8 by coupling the insert end 711 to the main body 3 at themounting bore 323 to complete the assembly of the golf putter 2. As anoption, the putter 2 may contain no weight member in each of thecavities 313 to vary the weight center according to the user'srequirement.

[0022] In use, the ball contacting surface 410 of the front coveringportion 41 of the sheath 4 confronts the golf ball 20 and is slightlyinclined in the downward and forward direction when the bottom cap 6 isdisposed horizontally on a ground surface.

[0023] Since the front side wall 321 of the main body 3 is entirelycovered by the sheath 4, the golf ball 20 can in general circumstancesnot contact the relatively rigid surface of the metal main body 3, butinstead contacts the resilient ball contacting surface 410 of the sheath4. As such, the distance and the route of the golf ball 20 can be moreprecisely controlled. Moreover, with the provision of the grooves 411,412 on the ball contacting surface 410, traction with the golf ball 20is enhanced, and the contact time between the golf ball 20 and thesurface 410 can be prolonged. This further facilitates the control inthe route of rolling movement of the golf ball 20, and lengthens thedistance of the rolling movement.

[0024] While the present invention has been described in connection withwhat is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included withinthe spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompassall such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

I claim:
 1. A golf putter comprising: a club head including an elongatedmain body which has an upright front side wall extending along alongitudinal direction of said main body, said club head furtherincluding a sheath which is made of a resilient material and whichencloses said main body, said sheath having a front covering portionwhich covers said front side wall and which has an upright ballcontacting surface adapted to be in contact with a golf ball, said ballcontacting surface being formed with at least one groove that extends inthe longitudinal direction of said main body; and a club shaft having alower end extending through said sheath and mounted on said main body ofsaid club head.
 2. The golf putter as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidmain body has at least one weight mounting portion which is formed witha cavity and which has a weight member received in said cavity.
 3. Thegolf putter as claimed in claim 2, wherein said main body has a bottomsurface, said cavity having a bottom opening formed in said bottomsurface, said sheath having an open bottom side which permits access tosaid cavity, said club head further including a bottom cap mountedremovably on said bottom surface of said main body for covering saidbottom opening of said cavity, said weight member being receivedremovably in said cavity.
 4. The golf putter as claimed in claim 3,wherein said ball contacting surface of said sheath inclines downwardlyand forwardly when said bottom cap is disposed horizontally on a groundsurface.
 5. The golf putter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clubhead further includes a metal skin layer formed over said sheath byelectroplating.
 6. The golf putter as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidmain body has a bottom surface and is formed with a pair of weightmounting portions which are opposite to each other in the longitudinaldirection of said main body, each of said weight mounting portions beingformed with a cavity that has a bottom opening formed in said bottomsurface, said sheath having an open bottom side that permits access tosaid cavities via said bottom openings, said club head further includinga weight member received removably in said cavity of a selected one ofsaid weight mounting portions, and a bottom cap mounted removably onsaid bottom surface of said main body for covering said bottom openingsof said cavities.